NORAD conducting air mission in the North

Fighter planes will be flying over the North this week as a part of a joint military exercise that began Monday and is held by Canada and the United States.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, an air defence partnership between Canada and the United States, is conducting an operation called Noble Defender.

It purpose is to show NORAD’s ability to stop air or cruise missiles from hitting North America through the Arctic, Capt. Ken Jacobson of the Canadian Armed Forces stated in a NORAD news release.

While the timing of a military operation in the Arctic coincides with Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, that conflict has nothing to do with the timing of Noble Defender, Jacobson said in an interview with Nunatsiaq News. He added this year’s version of the annual exercise had been planned as early as last August and is typically done in the spring.

The operation will see Canadian CF-18 fighter jets stationed in northern airports intercept other aircrafts that are role-playing as threats.

Search and rescue helicopters are stationed in Alert, Nunavut for any mission that is needed since the operational takes place on the Arctic seas, Jacobson said. He added the rest of the operation will be conducted in the Northwest Territories, Labrador and Greenland.

“Noble Defender further validates the Canadian NORAD Region’s ability to operate effectively in even the most challenging of regions and in some of the harshest winter conditions in the world,” Maj.-Gen. Eric Kenny of the Canadian Armed Forces stated in the release.

With the sea ice decreasing and opening up competition for resources, defending the Arctic will increase in prevalence, the release stated.